Street-car



(No Model.)

T. H. LOV'EJOY. STREET GAR.

No. 580,620. v Patented Apr. 13 1897.

T/m/Ww /7. L 0 VEJOY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. LOVEJOY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STREET-CAR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 580,620, dated April 13,1897. Application filed February 1, 1897. Serial No. 621,418. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. LOVEJOY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Street-Oars, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in streetcars, and moreparticularly to the means or mechanism for mounting and supporting andoperating the life-guard or protecting-frame which surrounds the truckand Wheels of the car. The life-guard in ordinary use is normallycarried at a height of about four inches above the track, but in time ofdanger it is designed to be lowered very near to the ground to enable itto better protect persons falling or in danger on the track from beingrun over by the wheels, and as the lifeguard completely surrounds thetruck and wheels on all sides it is necessary to drop the life-guardentirely upon the ground when it is desired to remove the wheels fromthe car or truck for repairs or other purposes.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, durable, andefficient means or mechanism for supporting the life-guard normally atthe required height above the ground and by means of which it may beeasily and quickly and certainly lowered near to the ground in time ofdanger, and whereby also the lifeguard may be readily dropped upon theground at both ends without the necessity of removing the large numberof bolts, as heretofore required, when it is desired to remove any ofthe wheels from the car, thus saving time and labor.

To this end my invention consists, in connection with the truck-frame,the life-guard, and the springs interposed between the truckframe andlife-guard for the purpose of forcing and holding the life-guard down,of an opening and closing or collapsible support or toggle link or jointin the supporting connection of the life-guard. When this collapsiblesupport or toggle-joint is extended or straight, it causes thelife-guard to be supported at its normal height, while at the same timeit may be easily and quickly pulled or moved by the car driver oroperator from its straight or extended position, and thus by itscollapsing or closing or flexing permit the life-guard to be suddenlyand surely lowered,

by its own gravity and by the interposed springs, to its requiredposition in time of danger.

My invention further consists in providing the supporting connection ofthe life-guard with a disengageable coupling or joint to enable theparts of the connection to be readily separated or disengaged when it isdesired to drop the life-guard upon the ground for the purpose ofremoving the wheels, and thus save the time and labor of removing thebolts extending through the life-guard. The springs interposed betweenthe life-guard and truckframe cooperate with the collapsible support ortoggle to keep the same normally extended or from accidentally closingunder the jolt-ing of the car, and they cooperate also with thedetachable coupling to prevent accidental disengagement of its parts.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 2is an enlarged detail view in side elevation. Figs. 8 and i are detailperspective views illustrating the detachable joint or coupling in thesupporting connection of the life-guard. Fig. 5 is a detail perspectiveview of the toggle link or joint with which the supporting connection ofthe life-guard is provided for the purpose of enabling it to be quicklylowered into operative position, and Fig. 6 is a detail top view of thesame.

In the drawings similar letters of reference indicate like parts in theseveral figures.

In the drawings, A represents the body or platform of a street-car, Bthe truck-frame, and C the wheels. The car and its truck may be ofanysuitable kind or construction known to those skilled in the art andneed no detailed description, as my invention is equally applicable toany form of truck or street-car.

D is the life-guard. This part may also be of any suitable constructionnow commonly in use.

F F are brackets secured to the truck-frame B by bolts f fand from whichbrackets the lifeguard is supported.

G G are hangers or brackets secured to the life-guard D by bolts 9 g.The brackets G are each furnished with a central vertical slot oropening g and a transverse slot or the jolting motion of the car.

the oblong or T head h of the connectingbolt H.

K is the collapsible support which is interposed in the supportingconnection between the life-guard and truck-frame. Itpreferably consistsof a toggle joint or link.

The bracket F is provided on its upper side with lugs or ears f, towhich are pivoted the lower members It k of the toggle link or joint K,and the upper members k k of the toggle link or joint are pivotallyconnected to the lifeguard-supporting connection or bolt H, this beingdone through the medium of an interposed cross-bar k extending betweenand pivoted to the link members 7: at their upper ends and through whichthe supporting-boltH extends. At its upper end the supporting-bolt H isthreaded and provided with a nut h, which bears against the cross-bar 10The lower and upper members 76 7c of the toggle link or joint K arepivoted or hinged together at 70 and when the toggle link or joint isextended or straight the meeting shoulders 10 70 of the links fit squareoneupon another, and thus form a firm support for the lifeguard. Nearits middle the toggle-joint K is provided with an ear 712 to which theconnecting rod or link m, leading to the operatinglever M, is attached,so that the driver by pulling on the lever M can quickly and easily pullthe links of the toggle past their center of support and thus permit thelinks of the toggle to close together or toward each other and thelife-guard thus to be lowered into its operative position, as required.When the toggle-joint is thus flexed pastthe center through theoperating-lever M, the life-guard drops by its own weight, and it isalso forced and held down by the spring N, surrounding the supportingconnection or bolt H and interposed between the brackets F and G. Theinterposed springs N also keep the parts of the toggle-joints K underconstant pressure, so that there is no danger of their beingaccidentally flexed or closed past their center by The springsN alsoprevent any rattling movements of the life-guard or its connections withthe truckframe. The springs N also serve to keep the detachable couplingor joint between the two parts H and G of the supporting connection forthe life guard in proper engagement with each other, as illustrated inFig. 2, and prevent the parts of this joint from becoming accidentallydisengaged by the jolting of the car.

I have illustrated in the drawings and hereinabove described thepreferred and What .1

believe to be the best form and construction of collapsible support ortoggle-joint for use in combination with the life-guard and truckframeto enable the life-guard to be easily and instantaneously lowered intooperative position, and also the preferred and what I believe to be thebest form of detachable coupling or joint to enable the life-guard to bedropped upon the ground when required; but it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the construction of these parts may bevaried without departing from the principle of my invention.

It perhaps should be stated that to turn the bolt H one-quarter around,so that its head It will pass through the vertical slot or opening g,the life-guard is lifted or pried up sufficiently to relieve the bolt Hof pressure and permit its head h to be disengaged from the curved seatg I claim- 1. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame andlife-guard of a collapsible support interposed in the supportingconnection between the life-guard and truck-frame and servingwhen in itsextended position to sustain the weight of the-life-guard, and theweight of the life-guard itself operating to collapse said support themoment it is flexed or moved out of its extended position, sub- Istantially as specified.

2. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame, said collapsible support consisting of atoggle-joint adapted when extended or straight to hold the life-guard atits normal height, and when flexed or closed to drop the life.- guardinto its operative position, the weight of the life-guard itselfoperating to collapse said support when it is flexed or moved out of itsextended position, substantially as specified.

3. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guard,of a supporting connection between the truck-frame and lifeguardprovided with a detachable coupling or joint, one of the parts ormembers. of said coupling or joint being rotatable in respect to theother, and adapted to pass through the other when turned into a certainposition, substantially as specified.

4. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame, said collapsible support consisting of atoggle-joint adapted when extended or straight to hold the life-guard atits. normal height, and when flexed or closed to drop the lifeguard intoits operative position, and a detachable coupling or joint consisting ina bracket secured to the lifeguard and provided with vertical andtransverse slots. or openings, and a supporting-rod connected to thetruck-frame and provided with an oblong or T-shaped head at its lowerend, substantially as specified.

5. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame, said collapsible support consisting of atoggle-joint adapted when extended or straight to hold the life-guard atits normal height, and when flexed or closed to drop the lifeguard intoits operative position, and a detachable coupling or joint consisting ina bracket secured to the life-guard and provided with vertical andtransverse slots or openings, a supporting rod connected tothe truck-,frame and provided with an oblong or T- shaped head at its lower end,and. said bracket having also curved seats to receive the oblong or Thead of the supporting-rod,'substantially as specified.

6. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame, and a spring interposed between saidtruckframe and life-guard, and serving to keep said collapsible supportnormally in its extended position and the weight of the lifeguard andsaid spring operating to collapse said support when it is flexed ormoved out of its extended position, substantially as specifled.

7. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame,

said collapsible support consisting of a toggle-joint adapted whenextended or straight to hold the life-guard at its normal height, andwhen flexed or closed to drop the lifeguard into its operative position,and a spring between the life-guard and truck-frame and the weight ofthe life-guard and said spring operating to collapse said support whenit is 8. In a street-car, the combination with the truck-frame andlife-guard, of a supporting connection between the truck-frame andlifeguard provided with a detachable coupling or joint, and a springbetween the life-guard and truck-frame to keep the parts of saiddetachable coupling or joint normally engaged, substantially asspecified.

9. In a streetcar, the combination with the truck-frame and life-guardof a collapsible support interposed in the supporting connection betweenthe life-guard and truck-frame, said collapsible support consisting of atoggle-joint adapted when extended or straight to hold the life-guard atits normal height, and when flexed or closed to drop the lifeguardintoits operative position, and a detachable coupling or jointconsisting in a bracket secured to the life-guard and provided withvertical and transverse slots or openings, and a supporting-rodconnected to the truck-frame and provided with an oblong or T-shapedhead at its lower end, and a spring between the truck-frame andlifeguard, substantially as specified.

10. In a street-car, the combination with a truck-frame and life-guard,of a bracket F secured to the truck-frame, and provided with an ear orlug f, the bracket G secured to the life-guard and provided with avertical opening or slot g and a transverse slot or opening g and curvedseat 9 a supporting connection H having oblong or T head It, toggle linkor joint K having pivotal cross-bar k connected to said bolt H, springN, operating-lever M and connection m, substantially as specified.

THOMAS H. LOVEJOY.

l/Vitnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, S. C. CURTIS.

